Bio


Prof. Alonso is the founder and director of the Aerospace Design Laboratory (ADL) where he specializes in the development of high-fidelity computational design methodologies to enable the creation of realizable and efficient aerospace systems. Prof. Alonso’s research involves a large number of different manned and unmanned applications including transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic aircraft, helicopters, turbomachinery, and launch and re-entry vehicles. He is the author of over 200 technical publications on the topics of computational aircraft and spacecraft design, multi-disciplinary optimization, fundamental numerical methods, and high-performance parallel computing. Prof. Alonso is keenly interested in the development of an advanced curriculum for the training of future engineers and scientists and has participated actively in course-development activities in both the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department (particularly in the development of coursework for aircraft design, sustainable aviation, and UAS design and operation) and for the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME) at Stanford University. He was a member of the team that currently holds the world speed record for human powered vehicles over water. A student team led by Prof. Alonso also holds the altitude record for an unmanned electric vehicle under 5 lbs of mass.

Administrative Appointments


  • Member, SoE Future Committee (2015 - 2016)
  • Director, NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program Office (2006 - 2008)

Honors & Awards


  • AHS Forum Best Paper Award, Aircraft Design, American Helicopter Society (2018)
  • AIAA SciTech Best Paper Award, Thermophysics Technical Committee, AIAA (2014)
  • NASA Aeronautics Associate Administrator Award for High-Fidelity Tool Validation for Sonic Boom, NASA (2014)
  • AIAA Associate Fellow, AIAA (2012)
  • FAI Altitude World Record, Class U, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Electric category, FAI (2010)
  • NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, NASA (2009)
  • AIAA Best Paper Award, Multi-Disciplinary Optimization Conferences, AIAA (2004, 2006, 2008)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member, NASA Advisory Council (2005 - 2006)
  • Member, Sec. of Transp. Future of Aviation Advisory Council (2010 - 2011)
  • Member, FAA Management Advisory Council (2011 - 2014)
  • Member, FAA Drone Advisory Council (2016 - 2018)

Professional Education


  • PhD, Princeton University, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (1997)
  • M.A., Princeton University, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (1993)
  • B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aeronautics & Astronautics (1991)

Patents


  • Juan J. Alonso, Andre S. Chan, Ferdinand Hendriks. "United States Patent 7,177,116 System, Method, and Apparatus for Breaking Up Large-Scale Eddies and Straightening Air Flow Inside Rotary Disk Storage Devices", Sep 1, 2005
  • Juan J. Alonso, Andre S. Chan, Ferdinand Hendriks. "United States Patent 7,946,691 System, Method, and Apparatus for Applying Boundary Layer Manipulation Techniques to the Air Flow Inside Rotary Disk Storage Devices", Sep 1, 2005

2024-25 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • A large-scale validation study of aircraft noise modeling for airport arrivals. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Rindfleisch, T. C., Alonso, J. J., Jackson, D. C., Munguia, B. C., Bowman, N. W. 2024; 155 (3): 1928-1949

    Abstract

    In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) is approved to predict the impacts of aircraft noise and emissions. AEDT's critical role in regulatory compliance and evaluating the environmental impacts of aviation requires asking how accurate are its noise predictions. Previous studies suggest that AEDT's predictions lack desired accuracy. This paper reports on a large-scale study, using 200 000 flight trajectories paired with measured sound levels for arrivals to Runways 28L/28R at San Francisco International Airport, over 12 months. For each flight, two AEDT studies were run, one using the approved mode for regulatory filing and the other using an advanced non-regulatory mode with exact aircraft trajectories. AEDT's per aircraft noise predictions were compared with curated measured sound levels at two locations. On average, AEDT underestimated LAmax by -3.09dB and SEL by -2.04dB, combining the results from both AEDT noise-modeling modes. Discrepancies appear to result from limitations in the physical modeling of flight trajectories and noise generation, combined with input data uncertainties (aircraft weight, airspeed, thrust, and lift configuration) and atmospheric conditions.

    View details for DOI 10.1121/10.0025276

    View details for PubMedID 38466043

  • Accelerating the Lattice Boltzmann Method Altoyan, W., Alonso, J. J., IEEE IEEE. 2023
  • Convex Optimization of Low Observability Hypersonic Vehicles Berkenstock, D., Alonso, J., Lessard, L., IEEE IEEE. 2023
  • Forecasting the Operational Lifetime of Battery-Powered Electric Aircraft JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Clarke, M. A., Alonso, J. J. 2022

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.C036851

    View details for Web of Science ID 000811444900001

  • A universal velocity profile for turbulent wall flows including adverse pressure gradient boundary layers JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS Subrahmanyam, M. A., Cantwell, B. J., Alonso, J. J. 2021; 933
  • Parametric Study of Nonequilibrium Shock Interference Patterns over a Fuselage-and-Wing Conceptual Vehicle AIAA JOURNAL Garbacz, C., Morgado, F., Fossati, M., Maier, W. T., Munguia, B. C., Alonso, J. J., Loseille, A. 2021; 59 (12): 4905-4916

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J060470

    View details for Web of Science ID 000800025200007

  • Comparing Multi-Element Airfoil Flow Solutions Using Multiple Solvers with Output-Based Adapted Meshes AIAA JOURNAL Galbraith, M. C., Ursachi, C., Chandel, D., Allmaras, S. R., Darmofal, D. L., Glasby, R. S., Stefanski, D. L., Erwin, J., Holst, K. R., Hereth, E. A., Mukhopadhaya, J., Alonso, J. J. 2021

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J060861

    View details for Web of Science ID 000721179800001

  • Lithium-Ion Battery Modeling for Aerospace Applications JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Clarke, M., Alonso, J. J. 2021; 58 (6): 1323-1335

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.C036209

    View details for Web of Science ID 000728112400011

  • SU2-NEMO: An Open-Source Framework for High-Mach Nonequilibrium Multi-Species Flows AEROSPACE Maier, W. T., Needels, J. T., Garbacz, C., Morgado, F., Alonso, J. J., Fossati, M. 2021; 8 (7)
  • Shock interactions in inviscid air and CO2-N-2 flows in thermochemical non-equilibrium SHOCK WAVES Garbacz, C., Maier, W. T., Scoggins, J. B., Economon, T. D., Magin, T., Alonso, J. J., Fossati, M. 2021; 31 (3): 239-253
  • Design exploration and optimization under uncertainty PHYSICS OF FLUIDS Mishra, A., Mukhopadhaya, J., Alonso, J., Iaccarino, G. 2020; 32 (8)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/5.0020858

    View details for Web of Science ID 000563493800001

  • MULTI-FIDELITY MODELING OF PROBABILISTIC AERODYNAMIC DATABASES FOR USE IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION Mukhopadhaya, J., Whitehead, B. T., Quindlen, J. F., Alonso, J. J., Cary, A. W. 2020; 10 (5): 425–47
  • A Simple and Robust Shock-Capturing Approach for Discontinuous Galerkin Discretizations ENERGIES Choi, J., Alonso, J. J., van der Weide, E. 2019; 12 (14)

    View details for DOI 10.3390/en12142651

    View details for Web of Science ID 000478999400011

  • Polynomial chaos to efficiently compute the annual energy production in wind farm layout optimization WIND ENERGY SCIENCE Padron, A., Thomas, J., Stanley, A. J., Alonso, J. J., Ning, A. 2019; 4 (2): 211–31
  • Uncertainty Estimation Module for Turbulence Model Predictions in SU2 AIAA JOURNAL Mishra, A., Mukhopadhaya, J., Iaccarino, G., Alonso, J. 2019; 57 (3): 1066–77

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J057187

    View details for Web of Science ID 000459609400016

  • CUPyDO - An integrated Python environment for coupled fluid-structure simulations ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING SOFTWARE Thomas, D., Cerquaglia, M. L., Boman, R., Economon, T. D., Alonso, J. J., Dimitriadis, G., Terrapon, V. E. 2019; 128: 69–85
  • Sequential Reliability-Based Design Optimization via Anchored Decomposition AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum Fenrich, R. W., Alonso, J. J. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-0723

  • Strategies for Posing a Well-Defined Problem for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum Clarke, M., Smart, J., Botero, E., Maier, W., Alonso, J. J. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-0818

  • Primary Weight Estimation for eVTOLs via Explicit Analysis and Surrogate Regression AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum Smart, J. T., Alonso, J. J. AIAA. 2019
  • Flow and noise predictions around tandem cylinders using DDES approach with SU2 AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum Molina, E. S., Alonso, J. J., Zhou, B. Y., Righi, M., da Silva, R. G. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-0326

  • Shock-Induced Separation Suppression Using CFD-Based Active Flow Control Optimization AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum Munguia, B. C., Mukhopadhaya, J., Alonso, J. J. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-0695

  • Simple shock detector for discontinuous Galerkin method AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum Choi, J. H., Alonso, J. J., van der Weide, E. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-0584

  • Transonic flow analysis with discontinuous Galerkin method in SU2 DG-FEM solver AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum Choi, J. H., Alonso, J. J., van der Weide, E. AIAA. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-3425

  • Current Capabilities and Challenges of NDARC and SUAVE for eVTOL Aircraft Design and Analysis Matthew Clarke Vegh, J. M., Botero, E., Clarke, M., Smart, J., Alonso, J. J. American Institute for Aeronautics & Astronautics . 2019

    View details for DOI 10.2514/6.2019-4505

  • Connecting Flow over Complex Terrain to Hydrodynamic Roughness on a Coral Reef JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY Rogers, J. S., Maticka, S. A., Chirayath, V., Woodson, C., Alonso, J. J., Monismith, S. G. 2018; 48 (7): 1567–87
  • STAGGERED STRONG COUPLING BETWEEN EXISTING FLUID AND SOLID SOLVERS THROUGH A PYTHON INTERFACE FOR FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTION PROBLEMS Thomas, D., Variyar, A., Boman, R., Economon, T. D., Alonso, J. J., Dimitriadis, G., Terrapon, V. E., Papadrakakis, M., Onate, E., Schrefler, B. INT CENTER NUMERICAL METHODS ENGINEERING. 2017: 645–60
  • Performance optimizations for scalable implicit RANS calculations with SU2 COMPUTERS & FLUIDS Economon, T. D., Mudigere, D., Bansal, G., Heinecke, A., Palacios, F., Park, J., Smelyanskiy, M., Alonso, J. J., Dubey, P. 2016; 129: 146-158
  • SU2: An Open-Source Suite for Multiphysics Simulation and Design AIAA JOURNAL Economon, T. D., Palacios, F., Copeland, S. R., Lukaczyk, T. W., Alonso, J. J. 2016; 54 (3): 828-846

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J053813

    View details for Web of Science ID 000375425800004

  • Unsteady Continuous Adjoint Approach for Aerodynamic Design on Dynamic Meshes AIAA JOURNAL Economon, T. D., Palacios, F., Alonso, J. J. 2015; 53 (9): 2437-2453

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J053763

    View details for Web of Science ID 000359983400002

  • Enabling the environmentally clean air transportation of the future: a vision of computational fluid dynamics in 2030 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES Slotnick, J. P., Khodadoust, A., Alonso, J. J., Darmofal, D. L., Gropp, W. D., Lurie, E. A., Mavriplis, D. J., Venkatakrishnan, V. 2014; 372 (2022)
  • Enabling the environmentally clean air transportation of the future: a vision of computational fluid dynamics in 2030. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences Slotnick, J. P., Khodadoust, A., Alonso, J. J., Darmofal, D. L., Gropp, W. D., Lurie, E. A., Mavriplis, D. J., Venkatakrishnan, V. 2014; 372 (2022)

    Abstract

    As global air travel expands rapidly to meet demand generated by economic growth, it is essential to continue to improve the efficiency of air transportation to reduce its carbon emissions and address concerns about climate change. Future transports must be 'cleaner' and designed to include technologies that will continue to lower engine emissions and reduce community noise. The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be critical to enable the design of these new concepts. In general, the ability to simulate aerodynamic and reactive flows using CFD has progressed rapidly during the past several decades and has fundamentally changed the aerospace design process. Advanced simulation capabilities not only enable reductions in ground-based and flight-testing requirements, but also provide added physical insight, and enable superior designs at reduced cost and risk. In spite of considerable success, reliable use of CFD has remained confined to a small region of the operating envelope due, in part, to the inability of current methods to reliably predict turbulent, separated flows. Fortunately, the advent of much more powerful computing platforms provides an opportunity to overcome a number of these challenges. This paper summarizes the findings and recommendations from a recent NASA-funded study that provides a vision for CFD in the year 2030, including an assessment of critical technology gaps and needed development, and identifies the key CFD technology advancements that will enable the design and development of much cleaner aircraft in the future.

    View details for DOI 10.1098/rsta.2013.0317

    View details for PubMedID 25024413

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4095895

  • PDE-constrained optimization with error estimation and control JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS Hicken, J. E., Alonso, J. J. 2014; 263: 136-150
  • Helicopter Rotor Design Using a Time-Spectral and Adjoint-Based Method JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Choi, S., Lee, K., Potsdam, M. M., Alonso, J. J. 2014; 51 (2): 412-423

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.C031975

    View details for Web of Science ID 000333798200006

  • Using Supervised Learning to Improve Monte Carlo Integral Estimation AIAA JOURNAL Tracey, B., Wolpert, D., Alonso, J. J. 2013; 51 (8): 2015-2023

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J051655

    View details for Web of Science ID 000322557400019

  • Robust Grid Adaptation for Efficient Uncertainty Quantification AIAA JOURNAL Palacios, F., Duraisamy, K., Alonso, J. J., Zuazua, E. 2012; 50 (7): 1538-1546

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J051379

    View details for Web of Science ID 000306096400009

  • Risk Assessment of Scramjet Unstart Using Adjoint-Based Sampling Methods AIAA JOURNAL Wang, Q., Duraisamy, K., Alonso, J. J., Iaccarino, G. 2012; 50 (3): 581-592

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J051264

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301204700007

  • Multidisciplinary Optimization with Applications to Sonic-Boom Minimization ANNUAL REVIEW OF FLUID MECHANICS, VOL 44 Alonso, J. J., Colonno, M. R. 2012; 44: 505-526
  • Prediction of Helicopter Rotor Loads Using Time-Spectral Computational Fluid Dynamics and an Exact Fluid-Structure Interface JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY Choi, S., Datta, A., Alonso, J. J. 2011; 56 (4)
  • Design of Adjoint-Based Laws for Wing Flutter Control JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Palaniappan, K., Sahu, P., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. J. 2011; 48 (1): 331-335

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.C031005

    View details for Web of Science ID 000287227200031

  • Toward optimally seeded airflow on hypersonic vehicles using control theory COMPUTERS & FLUIDS Marta, A. C., Alonso, J. J. 2010; 39 (9): 1562-1574
  • Numerical and Mesh Resolution Requirements for Accurate Sonic Boom Prediction AIAA 42nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit Choi, S., Alonso, J. J., van der Weide, E. AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT. 2009: 1126–39

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.34367

    View details for Web of Science ID 000268906100005

  • Two-Level Multifidelity Design Optimization Studies for Supersonic Jets AIAA 43rd Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit Choi, S., Alonso, J. J., Kroo, I. M. AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT. 2009: 776–90

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.34362

    View details for Web of Science ID 000266894200005

  • Aircraft design optimization 6th Pan-American Workshop on Applied and Computational Mathematics Alonso, J. J., LeGrestey, P., Pereyra, V. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. 2009: 1948–58
  • ADJoint: An approach for the rapid development of discrete adjoint solvers AIAA/ISSMO 11th Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference Mader, C. A., Martins, J. R., Alonso, J. J., van der Weide, E. AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT. 2008: 863–73

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.29123

    View details for Web of Science ID 000254658300006

  • Multifidelity design optimization of low-boom supersonic sets AIAA/ISSMO 10th Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference Choi, S., Alonso, J. J., Kroo, I. M., Wintzer, M. AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT. 2008: 106–18

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.28948

    View details for Web of Science ID 000252820400013

  • A methodology for the development of discrete adjoint solvers using automatic differentiation tools INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS Marta, A. C., Mader, C. A., Martins, J. R., van der Weide, E., Alonso, J. J. 2007; 21 (9-10): 307-327
  • Integrated computations of an entire jet engine 52nd ASME Turbo Expo 2007 Medic, G., You, D., Kalitzin, G., Herrmann, M., Ham, F., Pitsch, H., van der Weide, E., Alonso, J. AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. 2007: 1841–1847
  • Demonstration of nonlinear frequency domain methods AIAA JOURNAL McMullen, M., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. 2006; 44 (7): 1428-1435

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.15127

    View details for Web of Science ID 000239046300006

  • An adjoint method for the calculation of remote sensitivities in supersonic flow INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS Nadarajah, S. K., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. 2006; 20 (2): 61-74
  • Unsteady CFD simulation of an entire gas turbine high-spool 51st ASME Turbo Expo 2006 Schuelter, J., Apte, S., Kalitzin, G., Pitsch, H., van der Weide, E., Alonso, J. AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. 2006: 1931–1939
  • A framework for coupling Reynolds-averaged with large-eddy simulations for gas turbine applications JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME Schluter, J. U., Wu, X., Kim, S., Shankaran, S., Alonso, J. J., Pitsch, H. 2005; 127 (4): 806-815

    View details for DOI 10.1115/1.1994877

    View details for Web of Science ID 000231839800021

  • A coupled-adjoint sensitivity analysis method for high-fidelity aero-structural design OPTIMIZATION AND ENGINEERING Martins, J. R., Alonso, J. J., Reuther, J. J. 2005; 6 (1): 33-62
  • Integrated simulations of a compressor/combustor assembly of a gas turbine engine 50th ASME Turbo-Expo 2005 Schluter, J., Wu, X., Pitsch, H., Kim, S., Alonso, J. AMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. 2005: 971–982
  • Prediction of high-pressure turbine main-/secondary-air system flow interaction JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER Davis, R. L., Alonso, J. J., Yao, J. X., Paolillo, R., SHARMA, O. P. 2005; 21 (1): 158-166
  • Multi-element high-lift configuration design optimization using viscous continuous adjoint method JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Kim, S., Alonso, J. J., Jameson, A. 2004; 41 (5): 1082-1097
  • High-fidelity aerostructural design optimization of a supersonic business jet AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC/SDM 43rd Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference Martins, J. R., Alonso, J. J., Reuther, J. J. AMER INST AERONAUT ASTRONAUT. 2004: 523–30
  • The complex-step derivative approximation ACM TRANSACTIONS ON MATHEMATICAL SOFTWARE Martins, J. R., Sturdza, P., Alonso, J. J. 2003; 29 (3): 245-262
  • Massively parallel simulation of the unsteady flow in an axial turbine stage JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER Yao, J. X., Davis, R. L., Alonso, J. J., Jameson, A. 2002; 18 (2): 465-471
  • Development and validation of a massively parallel flow solver for turbomachinery flows JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER Yao, J. X., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. J., Liu, F. 2001; 17 (3): 659-668
  • Perspectives on simulation based aerodynamic design 1st International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics (ICCFD) Jameson, A., Martinelli, L., Alonso, J., Vassberg, J., Reuther, J. SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN. 2001: 135–178
  • Simulation based aerodynamic design 2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference Jameson, A., Martinelli, L., Alonso, J. J., Vassberg, J. C., Reuther, J. I E E E. 2000: 55–87
  • Aerodynamic shape optimization of supersonic aircraft configurations via an adjoint formulation on distributed memory parallel computers COMPUTERS & FLUIDS Reuther, J., Alonso, J. J., Rimlinger, M. J., Jameson, A. 1999; 28 (4-5): 675-700
  • Constrained multipoint aerodynamic shape optimization using an adjoint formulation and parallel computers, part 2 JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Reuther, J. J., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. J., Rimlinger, M. J., Saunders, D. 1999; 36 (1): 61-74
  • Constrained multipoint aerodynamic shape optimization using an adjoint formulation and parallel computers, part 1 JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Reuther, J. J., Jameson, A., Alonso, J. J., Rimlinger, M. J., Saunders, D. 1999; 36 (1): 51-60